Floor treating machines



Dec. 13, 1966 R. E. CAIN FLOOR TREATING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 11, 1965 Inventor P ar/er Eon 41m Cl/A y I?? M Attorneys Dec. 13,1966 R. E. CAIN FLOOR TREATING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 11,1965 Attorneys United States Patent FLOOR TREATING MACHINES Robert E.Cain, Lot 50, Green Plateau Road, Springfield, near Gosford, New SouthWales, Australia Filed Aug. 11, 1965, Ser. No. 478,796 Claims priority,application Australia, Aug. 13, 1964, 48,088/ 64 2 Claims. (Cl. 15-353)The present invention relates to an improved floor treating machinewhich may be used for scrubbing and vacuum-drying floor surfaces andalso, if required, may be used for bufiing and polishing the surfaceafter the scrubbing and drying operation.

Known scrubbing and liquid pick-up suction appliances usually are of thetype which may be used to dispense liquid detergent onto a floor, scrubthe floor and then dry the floor by sucking up the dirty liquid into aremovable dirty-liquid reservoir.

These known floor treating machines usually comprise a wheeled frame,manually propellable by a handle, having an electric motor supported onthe said frame and rotary surface-treating means mounted below the frameand driven by the motor, usually through a drive wheel. The rotarysurface treating means usually comprise a scrubbing unit mounted infront of the drive wheel and having at least one scrubbing elementrotatable about a generally vertical axis. This scrubbing element may beremoved and replaced optionally with a buffer or polishing pad ifrequired.

Also usually mounted on the frame there is a tank holding detergent orother suitable cleaning liquid and means for conveying the cleaningliquid to the floor adacent the rotary scrubbing element.

A suction unit is arranged behind the drive wheel to pick up liquid fromthe floor surface. This suction unit usually comprises a suction nozzleattached to a suction conduit leading away from the working or floorsurface of the nozzle to a dirty liquid reservoir. A fan, operatedeither by the aforementioned motor or by a second motor is arranged toproduce a suction in the nozzle via the suction conduit to suck up thedirty liquid from the floor and to convey it by means of an airstream tothe dirty liquid reservoir.

The whole usually is contained in an outer housing and is often referredto as a wet-vacuum unit.

The suction nozzle usually comprises a hollow body with an elongatedsuction mouth having one or more resilient blades with parallel wipingedges arranged to act as a squeegee for collecting the dirty solution ona surface being cleaned and enabling it to be drawn through the nozzleby a current of air from the motor-driven fan.

The motor or motors on the known machines may be either mains or batteryoperated and usually a switch means for operating the motor or motors islocated conveniently in the handle.

For convenience of reference throughout the specification hereafter theabove described machines are referred to as floor treating machines ofthe type hereinbefore described.

Hitherto in these known machines the suction nozzle was fixedlydependent beneath and the suction conduit was wholly contained withinthe housing of the wetvacuum unit. This arrangement suffered from thedisadvantage that the suction nozzle (squeegee) left a trail of dirtywater behind it, particularly when the machine cornered.

The object of the present invention is to overcome this disadvantage andto provide :an improved floor treating machine of the type hereinbeforedescribed which has a suction nozzle so constructed and arranged thatdirty floor marks caused by the squeegee action of the 3,290,716Patented Dec. 13, 1966 nozzle are substantially eliminated or greatlyreduced.

This object is achieved, according to the invention, by arranging thesuction nozzle and at least a portion of the suction conduit outside thewet-vacuum housing, the conduit being articulated thereto so that thesuction nozzle may pivot freely and follow the movement, :and inparticular the turning cycle, of the floor treating machine.

This has the great advantage that the trailing edges of the resilientwiping blades of the suction nozzle are always at an enagle such thatthey gather in the dirty liquid towards the suction conduit instead ofallowing the liquid to escape beneath the blade edges as happened with asuction nozzle fixedly attached beneath the wetva-cuum unit.

The invention is further described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view of the apparatus of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation view, and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of the attachment of the motor and brushto the frame of the apparatus shown in the preceding figures.

The apparatus of the invention comprises a circular frame 10 which isarranged to detachably mount a fluid or vacuum container 11 including amotor and pump incorporated therein. The frame 10 at its forward end isprovided with a channel shaped, when viewed from above, sub frame 12. Atthe forward end of the subframe 12 is secured a transverse 13. Wheels 14and 15 are provided on the ends of the axle 13.

A pair of spaced vertical frame members 16 and 17 extend upwards fromthe front end of the circular frame 10. These frame members 16 and 17are tubular and are arranged to receive in telescopic relationshipmounting lugs which are secured to a circular frame member 18 whichcarries a liquid container 19.

The subframe 12 is provided at the base of the channel with spaced:apertures 20 and 21 for the mounting of bearing brackets 22 and 23respectively. These bearing brackets 22 and 23 have matching aperturesthrough which bolts are passed to clamp the bearing brackets to thesubframe. The bearing ibrackets have journalled therein stub axlessecured to the link members. The latter at their free ends are pivotallymounted to the housing 26 of a motor and brush assembly. This housing 26carries a rotary brush on its underside and an electric motor 27 on itsupper side.

Extending between the liquid container 19 and the housing 26 is a tube28 which conducts fluid through a valve 29 to a position ahead of thebrush mounted in the housing 26. A flexible member 30 is secured to thefront end of the circular frame 18 and is arranged so that a hook on theend thereof can be inserted in an rapertured bracket 31 on the upperside of the housing 26. In FIGURE 1 the motor and hon-sing are shown inthe operative position with the hook on the member 30 detached from thelapertured bracket 31. 'In FIG- URE 3 the housing 26 and the motor 27:are shown in the raised position with the member 30 arranged so thatthe hook at the end thereof is connected to the :apertured bracket 31and as the member 30 is of restr-icted length it holds the forward endof the brush carried by the housing 26 above the floor level.

The rear end of the frame 10 is supported by castor wheels 32 and 33having screw height adjustment means 34 and 35 mounted on bracketssecured to the rearward end of the frame 10. A diametrical cross framemember 36 extends across the frame 10 transverse to the longitudinalaxis of the apparatus, that is parallel 3 to axle 13. At the mid pointthere is mounted a shaft 37 by a universal or ball joint 38. The shaft37 at its free end carries a vacuum squeegee housing 39 which isconnected by a vacuum pipe 40 through a connector 41 to the vacuum tank11.

A squeegee 42 is carried by an elongated arim pivotally mounted on theframe and is arranged to be positioned on one side of and adjacent tothe brush in its working position. The vacuum squeegee housing 39 isarranged to be elevated above floor level as shown in FIGURE 3 by meansof a catch member 43 the free end of which enters an apertured lug 44 tohold the housing 39 above the floor. The vacuum housing 39 is providedwithleading and trailing squeegees or rubber blades 45 land 46. Theleading squeegees 46 may be apertured or perforated. An operators handleis provided which has a transverse upper portion 47 and verticalconnecting portions 48 which enter sockets 49 secured to the frame 10.

In FIGURE 4 there is :a modification in which the axle 13 is mounted inan axially slidable manner llIl bearing members 50 secured to thesubframe 12. The movement of the axle 13 is controlled by a bracket 51welded thereto. The major portion of the bracket is adjacent to thefront portion of the frame 12 and is secured in the desired off setrelationship by a bolt 53 which passes through an aperture in thebracket 51 into a selected tapped hole 52 in the frame member 12. Thisarrangement permits the device to work underneath a kick board and in arestricted location.

I claim:

1. A floor treating machine having a wheeled frame, a vacuum containermounted on the frame, a suction squeegee nozzle connected by a conduitto the vacuum container, a single pivot arm extending backwards from theframe and connected at one end to the frame by a universal joint and atits other connected to the squeegee nozzle, whereby the squeegee nozzleis freely displaceable by an operator and normally tracks along behindthe frame with its length transverse to the direction of travel of themachine in arcuate as well as straight line travel.

2. A floor treating machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the universaljoint is a ball joint.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,500,692 7/1924Wagoner 15320 1,969,674 8/1934 Anderson-Smedberg 15-320 2,149,453 3/1939 Longshore et a1.

3,063,082 11/1962 Rosenberg 15353 X 3,065,490 11/1962 Arones 15-401 X3,206,787 9/1965 Daniels et a1 15-320 FOREIGN PATENTS 640,273 7/ 1950Great Britain.

ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner.

1. A FLOOR TREATING MACHINE HAVING A WHEELED FRAME, A VACUUM CONTAINERMOUNTED ON THE FRAME, A SUCTION SQUEEGEE NOZZLE CONNECTED BY A CONDUITTO THE VACUUM CONTAINR, A SINGLE PIVOT ARM EXTENDING BACKWARDS FROM THEFRAME AND CONNECTED AT ONE END TO THE FRAME BY A UNIVERSAL JOINT AND ATITS OTHER CONNECTED TO THE SQHEEGEE NOZZLE, WHEREBY THE SQUEEGEE NOZZLEIS FREELY DISPLACEABLE BY AN OPERATOR AND NORMALLY TRACKS ALONG BEHINDTHE FRAME WITH ITS LENGTH TRANSVERSE TO THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THEMACHINE IN ARCUATE AS WELL AS STRAIGHT LINE TRAVEL.